Indian fire kills more than 100

ONE-hundred-and-two people had died and 280 had been injured in an explosion during a fireworks display at a temple in the south Indian state of Kerala, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sparks from the display during a religious festival at Puttingal Devi Temple in Kollam district of the state triggered the explosion at 3.30am local time yesterday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Kerala soon to assess the situation, his office said.

There have been a number of incidents in the past five years at mass religious gatherings in India that have led to deaths. In October 2013, at least 111 people were killed in central India when rumours that a bridge was about to collapse triggered panic and caused pilgrims to jump into a river. About 102 people were killed in January 2011 at a Hindu shrine in Kerala.